Kool & The Gang, Hollywood Swinging | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 184th edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Hollywood Swinging” by Kool & The Gang. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 184^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Hollywood Swinging” performed by Kool & The Gang.

“Hey, hey, hey / What ya got to say? / Hollywood / Hollywood swinging.” Kool & The Gang brought the heat on the classic, “Hollywood Swinging”. “Hollywood Swinging” is the fifth track from the iconic R&B collective’s 1973 album, Wild And Peaceful. A big pop hit, it peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.  It performed even better on the R&B charts, becoming the group’s first no. 1. “Hollywood Swinging” was written and produced by Kool & The Gang. It is one of the best soul cuts of the 1970s and the soul catalog.

“Hollywood Swinging” is epic for many reasons. One is the musical accompaniment.  The band is on fire! The rhythm section is tight with its sickening groove, fat (but ‘athletic’) bass line, swelling organ, and lit guitar riffs.  The bright, articulated horns up the ante.  The instrumental, alone, is the sugar honey iced tea! The lyrics are memorable beyond the infectious, repetitive chorus, which is led by the titular lyric. “I always wanted to fit into a band / To sing my songs / And then become a bad piano playing man,” late keyboardist and singer Ricky Westfield (1949 – 1985) sings in the verse. He adds, autobiographically, “So here I am in this Hollywood city / The city of the stars, movies, women and cars.” Hollywood Swinging, baby! Westfield shines vocally, infusing ample personality into the record.  “Hollywood Swinging” doesn’t require in-depth analysis. The music speaks for itself.  This is an exciting, fun song that never gets old.  Kool & The Gang ‘put their foot’ into this one!

Kool & The Gang // Wild And Peaceful // UMG Recordings, Inc. // 1973

Kool & The Gang, Hollywood Swinging: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 184 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; UMG Recordings, Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]